Affected residents and business owners affected by the CMB fire incident have refused the National Disaster Management Organisation’s (NADMO) proposal to relocate to an alternative site to receive assistance.
NADMO reports that approximately 800 people have been impacted by the incident. However, attempts to persuade them to move from the area have been unsuccessful, as they are apprehensive about being forcefully evacuated from their current location.
In an interview with Citi News, Daniel Odei-Appiah, the Korley Klottey Municipal Coordinator of NADMO, said, “Individuals involved are about 805 now on our records. We need to do auditing on that and also the structure that has been destroyed by the fire.”
“We need to know the number of structures completely destroyed and items that were in the structures. A disaster like this, we don’t need you here, we need to move you to a safe place and provide you with those things, but you say you are not going. I should provide you with the things here which is against the protocols,”
The Assembly Member for the area, Frederick Quansah, noted that they have lost fate in NADMO’s attempt to offer support because they have failed on similar occasions over the period.
“Always when NADMO officials come, they just write names, and they don’t bring us anything, we don’t see anything from them. On the four consecutive times that we have experienced fires, they didn’t bring us anything, that is why I don’t want to entertain them”
The fire, which started around 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, razed through hundreds of homes and shops, leaving hundreds of residents stranded. Firefighters from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) were quickly dispatched to the scene, but the fire had already spread to several shops before they arrived.
ADO1 Alex Nartey, a Public Relations Officer of the GNFS, stated that several flammable objects were found at the scene of the fire.
By the time the fire was put out, several shops had been completely destroyed. Some of the traders at the market expressed their frustration and disappointment at the incident. Many of them stated that they had lost everything.